


The Price

by KattheCat



Category: Exiles Saga and Galactic Milieu - Julian May
Genre: Angst, Gen, Post-Rebellion Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 13:11:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7509723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KattheCat/pseuds/KattheCat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Metapsychic Rebellion, all operant humans had to pay a price. Today it's the turn of Elizabeth Orme.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Price

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own anything from Julian May’s worlds; Julian May does. No copyright infringement is intended; I am only borrowing these characters.

_DENALI: 2084_

“I was only seventeen at the time of the Metapsychic Rebellion.” - The Non-Born King by Julian May

There was a storm the day it was the turn of Elizabeth Orme to receive a permanent block put into her mind. This was of course to prevent the teenage telepath doing harm to others in the Galactic Milieu, unless it was to defend others in harms way. This and other draconian measures had come about because of the Metapsychic Rebellion, carried out by rebels wanting to leave the Milieu that had resulted in the obliteration of two planets, with four billion dead.

Operant humans had been responsible for the Rebellion, therefore all operant humans would be required to pay the price afterwards. Yes, once they were fully part of the Unity, the benevolent network of telepathic minds that was the bedrock of the Milieu, it would be impossible for them to deliberately hurt others anyway. But it was better to make sure.

Feeling a bit apprehensive, Elizabeth had dressed for her appointment in a red jumpsuit that represented her redactive, healing powers (look Milieu authorities, she was non-threatening), her wavy brown hair in a plait down her back. No, she didn’t always like being told what to do, but today was not the day to misbehave.

Storms were a regular part of life on the icy planet of Denali and to tell the truth, Elizabeth found the distant sound of the winds somewhat reassuring as she took the elevator to the eleventh floor of the Denali Metapsychic Institute. You either loved Denali or you hated it. Some people born here left as soon as they were old enough for warmer colony planets in the Milieu, ones with actual seasons apart from Winter, Constant Freezing and Oh look, my Jeans fell to the floor and shattered, they grumbled.

But Elizabeth loved Denali, even though it was on the outer rim so to speak of the Galactic Milieu. Elizabeth had been the only child of her non-operant parents, who had originally emigrated from Canada, reproductive license happily in hand. Oh, they had said over and over throughout her childhood of how proud they were to have an actual grandmasterclass daughter with two of the five metapsychic powers (and a bit of the third, too!), this proof that they were valuable members of the Galactic Milieu. 

However, there had been unspoken relief on both sides when she went to board at the Denali Metapsychic Institute when she was old enough, to be with others like herself. Elizabeth didn’t want other children to feel that sense of alienation she had felt growing up and it had inspired her to want to become a children’s teacher one day. To help operant children become comfortable with their powers and themselves. Eventually she and other operants would become part of the Unity - and no one who was a part of it would ever feel alone again, so it was said.

Elizabeth smiled at the thought of Unity, and some of her nervousness calmed down. In the weeks after the Metapsychic Rebellion ended last year she had woken from fiery nightmares of Denali being destroyed just as the planets Molakar and Okanagon had been by the rebels. Thinking of Unity had calmed her down in the dark more than her own redactive powers had. Jack the Bodiless and Diamond Mask had sacrificed their lives to stop the Rebellion, but in their last moments of life they had showed all operants everywhere in the galaxy the way to Unity. 

Those responsible for the Rebellion were dead.

Elizabeth’s smile faded. She had been in a common room at the Institute when there had been the Tri-D broadcast from the infamous Rebel Party Chairman, Marc Remillard. Elizabeth had been unable to look away from the darkly handsome, charismatic man, feeling as if he was looking directly at her with his deep set grey eyes. She had had the strangest chill come over her at the sight of Marc, as if they were both some part of a bigger picture she should be seeing, but wasn’t. The feeling had alarmed her at the time – she was just an ordinary student and loyal to the Galactic Milieu. She was no rebel!

 _It’s all right,_ she told herself yet again. _Marc was dead._ No bodies of him and his inner circle had ever been found, but it had been said that was because they had been reduced to dust in the cold of space… like that of Jack the Bodiless and Diamond Mask. However, what was left of Diamond Mask had been gathered and would go to form the heart of a new star, as per her wishes when she had been alive. Rumour said that the Lylmik – kindly, half-visible aliens who oversaw the Milieu – would be involved in this. 

Elizabeth had always been curious about those particular aliens and had wondered what it would be like to meet one of them one day. Would you end up with a headache trying to see them? Their names often sounded vague and slightly silly, except for that of their leader, Atoning Unifex, said to be the oldest and wisest one of all. When she was younger, she had innocently asked what was he atoning for - was it something bad? She had been hastily shushed by her elders, a hint of fear in their mental overtones. It was no one’s business, least of all hers, they had said testily. It was just one of those questions that no one asked.

Once she came out of the elevator and stepped into the hallway, she went to the door opposite and turned the handle. Elizabeth had been sent details of her appointment along with a white ID bracelet with her name and a string of numbers on it, which she now wore. The appointment had been made at an inconvenient time for her as it turned out, but she had rearranged her schedule without protest. Protesting had… consequences, as some unfortunate others had found out.

Elizabeth still wished she could make a complaint of some kind, though. Yes, she wasn’t perfect. Yes, she had often been accused of keeping to herself too much at times, but she wasn’t a bad person or a danger to society. She had an operant boyfriend too who always made her smile – that was a healthy sign, wasn’t it? 

Walking inside she found herself in a small chamber. Directly in front of her was an intercom besides a metal door and Elizabeth could almost taste the nervousness and unease left by previous visitors. Remembering her instructions, she carefully pressed the button by the intercom. When this was over, she would be glad to meet Lawrence at a café afterwards– he had even promised to shout her a piece of pie. He was definitely a keeper, that one.

“It’s Elizabeth Orme here, I’ve come for my appointment.”

FINIS

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. I thought there wasn't a lot of background description of Elizabeth's upbringing, so I added details of my own invention.
> 
> 2\. Jeans getting so cold that they actually shatter when they hit the ground is apparently a Thing. Brr.
> 
> 3\. Who else but Atoning Unifex could carry out the final wishes of Diamond Mask...


End file.
